Wednesday, 5 October 2011

Mammy Made Crochet Longies - Small

I love seeing little babies in wool longies, I think they look seriously cute. I've never been brave enough to use them as longies, they are always just used as wool pants for us over a pocket nappy or a fitted and a wrap but they do make waterproof longies if you lanolise them. I used to have a pair that I'd made from a pattern I found online, I can't remember which one it was now but it wasn't perfect for us. I decided to make my own pattern, making the gusset wider and the legs a little tighter. I also made the rise higher. Then I decided I wanted to change the seam from on the side to being centred at the back, just to make it look a bit neater. That took me aaages but it was worth it because now I have a pattern that fits my two kids perfectly! Here is my pattern that I came up with :)

100% wool (if you want to lanolise them - make sure the wool is not machine washable! If you want to use them as wool pants that are not waterproof you can use cheaper acrylic DK yarn)

wool needle

Waistband:1.
using 4mm hook and 100% wool, ch5, sc in 2ndch
from hook and across (4sc), ch1, turn and sc in bklps only until you
have 65 rows altogether including foundation
row, join the waistband into a ring with a slip stitch under 2loops
at the bottom of the first row, being careful not to twist the ring,
this will leave a v shape at the top of the waistband which will need
stitching up at the end.2.
ch1, turn, sc in same st and next 2sts, 2sc in next st (I counted
each row as a new stitch so the 2scs went into the row with only one
loop not two, this makes the holes for the drawstring) *sc in 3sts,
2scs in next st*, rep from *-* around, join with slst in 1stsc
(80)

3.
ch1, turn, sc around, join with slst in first sc (80)

4.
ch1, turn, sc around, join with slst in first sc (80)

Body:5-10.
repeat row 3 11.
ch3, turn, dc in st at base of ch and next 12sts, hdc in 7sts, sc in
40sts, hdc in 7sts, dc in12sts, 2dc in last st, join with sl st in
top of ch3 (82)

36.
ch1, turn, sc2tog, sc around till last 2sts, sc2tog, join with slst
in first sc, bind off

Gusset:37.
with back of st facing, count back 5sts, join yarn, ch1, sc in same
st and in next 8sts - you want the previous rows bind off to be right
in the centre of the gusset (9)38-44.
ch1, turn, sc across 45.
bind off, leaving a long tail, stitch the gusset to the middle 9sts
on the opposite side of pants, check to make sure both legs have 31
stitches each

Legs:46.
with back of st facing, join yarn in middle of gusset, ch1, sc in
same st and all around, join with sl st in 1st sc (42)47-83.
ch1, turn, sc around, join with sl st in first sc

Remember not to wash your 100% wool longies in the washing machine. They will need to be handwashed in lukewarm water and left to airdry flat to keep them in the best condition. If you are planning on using them over cloth nappies, they will need to be lanolised before use.

Wow! just the pattern I need to make longies for a friend's grandson. She saw a pair of sock-monkey ones, but all I could find was knit instructions, I forgot how to knit long ago (like 40 years ago). Being able to do up your own patterns is so neat!

Just dropped by to say hello to a fellow Mammy. My grandkids call me that too and you don't hear it very often, at least not in the US. I'm teaching my 3 year old granddaughter to knit and she loves it and is doing very well. Hope you pass on the needle arts to your grandkids too!